Rangers moved to within 2 points of Celtic at the top of the SPL after a 3-1 victory over Falkirk at Ibrox. A double for Kris Boyd and a last minute strike from Steve Davis cancelled out Steve Lovell’s early opener for the Bairns. Both sides only managed to finish the match with ten men on the field, with Falkirk’s Patrick Cregg receiving his marching orders in the 51st minute for a dangerous tackle on Pedro Mendes, and Rangers’ Sasa Papac seeing red for his challenge on Mark Stewart with just over ten minutes of the encounter remaining.
It was a good afternoon for the Edinburgh sides as both Hibernian and Hearts recorded victories. The Hibees overcame Gus MacPherson’s St.Mirren 2-0 at Easter Road while Csaba Laszlo’s men beat Kilmarnock by the same scoreline at Rugby Park. Rob Jones gave Mixu Paatelainen’s side the lead in the 14th minute and Derek Riordan ensured victory with a strike with 84 minutes on the clock. In Ayrshire, second half goals from Bruno Aguiar and Christos Karipidis lifted Hearts to fourth place in the SPL.
In the afternoon’s final game, Hamilton Accies fought for a vital win at home to Inverness Caledonian Thistle at New Douglas Park. The goal came from the penalty spot in the 39th minute with Simon Mensing the converter for the home side. The result means that there is now a six point gap between the Accies and Inverness who languish at the foot of the table.
League leaders Celtic travel to Aberdeen tomorrow for what should be an interesting encounter, and the final game of the weekend sees Craig Levein’s Dundee United take on Mark McGhee’s Motherwell with the Tangerines eager for victory as they push for a European spot.
Jonathan Simmons
Saturday’s Results
Hamilton Accies 1-0 Inverness CT
Hibernian 2-0 St.Mirren
Kilmarnock 0-2 Hearts
Rangers 3-1 Falkirk
